Bears versus Packers. Capulet versus Montague. GI Joe versus Cobra. Scorpion versus Mongoose. In recent years, another spectacular rivalry has arisen that overshadows these meager attempts at contention. The masses have chosen their respective sides and the opposing armies have gathered on the plains of war to settle this conflict once and for all: Beer Pong or Beer Bong?
Intoxication Levels: Beer bongs are the nuclear devices of speed-drinking. Completely bypassing taste buds, the mouth and sanity in general, beer bongs allow the average person to pound down about two full cans of beer in less than 10 seconds.
Beer pong, on the other hand, counts on team unity and general competitiveness to offset the sometimes slow pace of the game. And with limited playing time for losing teams, only the ones controlling the table are really guaranteed to get drunk in a short amount of time.
Advantage: Master of fast drinking and even faster explosive vomiting: beer bongs.
Staying Power: A trend that doesn't evolve can only exist for so long before it wears thin. Beer pong has this problem solved with more than 20 different variations on the game, and that's just in the Beirut (non-paddle) version of the game. Add in ping pong paddles and suddenly the new drinking experiences are endless. The beer bong engineers at UW haven't been sleeping on the job either. Technological improvements such as coverings, defoamers, working valves and multiple funnels have dramatically improved the original beer bong design. Someone recently sold a 30-person beer bong on Ebay, and www.octabong.com is boasting that their eight-legged creature is the 'ultimate' in beer bong experiences.
Advantage: Draw between 30 people doing a beer bong and shooting ping pongs balls at 20 full cups staked on top of one another.
Professionalism: The 2004 World Beer Pong Championships, hosted in Los Angeles, involved over 50 teams and lasted for more than 120 rounds. Corporate sponsors flock to tournaments and leagues are springing up everywhere. It doesn't get much more serious than this. Beer bong races, while popular, haven't exactly attracted the attention of the NCAA.
Advantage: Beer pong. Here's to professional beer-pong athletes winning the championship, puking on the referee and passing out on their partners live on ESPN.
